Running with scissors
The Riddle of the Sphinx
Fate, free will, and Greek Tragedy
Oedipus Rex, really good at the riddle
but fate, it turns out, can’t be beaten
spinning its web, sitting smack in the middle
watching us eat or be eaten
pity Jocasta, the sins of our mothers
nourishing, straight from the tit
oedipal complexes, like all the others
wit matters not, not a whit
You know those Scream horror movies? The ones that poke fun of all the tired tropes of the horror genre, the ones that make you yell “don’t go into the dark house!” to the clueless hero or victim, as the case may be?
Do you think the ancient Athenians, sitting as they did in their amphitheater, felt that way when watching another Greek tragedy? Did they moan as things broke just the wrong way for Oedipus despite all that effort, like Sophocles, dude, really??
Did they shake their head at the fate of Prometheus who gave us fire despite knowing the horror that would bring him?
